‘Deplorables’ due
The politically correct speech police in concert with the Obama/Clinton mass media continue to throw the Trumpster in the dumpster while protectively lifting his opponent on high as they carry Clinton toward the White House. Such loyalty! With support like that … how can she possibly lose? Well … maybe … and that’s a big maybe … there might be enough of Donald’s Deplorables to give her at least a wee bit of competition before her landslide victory.
Bill Davis
Hood River ‘Christians beware’ On April 23, 2015, Hillary Rodham Clinton made the following speech: “Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated religious beliefs have to be changed.” Speech delivered at the Women in the World Summit.
Sounds like she is wanting to get involved in the affairs of the church.
Pastor Bobby Beauchamp
Parkdale
Editor’s note: The full quotation reads, “Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed. As I have said and as I believe, the advancement of the full participation of women and girls in every aspect of their societies is the great unfinished business of the 21st century and not just for women but for everyone — and not just in faraway countries but right here in the United States.”
Time to combine
I have the perfect place in mind for affordable housing. You know the lot on Cascade across from Rite Aid that is used by the county? Who on earth thinks it is a good idea to store piles of volcano gravel for snow sanding there? Plus an acre of asphalt and a dinky office space. Surely that stuff could be stored next to the train tracks somewhere, and people could live there in affordable housing.
Whether this would save Morrison Park or not is not clear, but I have long begrudged the wasteful use of this property for gravel storage.
Hey, the city-county thing is so outdated anyway. Why not streamline offices for planning, police, etc., by combining Hood River services?
Just saying!
Alison Bryan
Hood River
Responsibilities
There is a compact we form to pay taxes to assure ourselves of a civil and working society — schools, roads, policing and fire come to mind. We decide what government is to provide for the common good and what it will cost and how and who will get taxed to pay for it.
Unfortunately, some of the people elected to the state and federal legislatures have failed us and passed tax legislation designed to allow some — the very rich — to not pay their fair share, which means you have to pay more to make up the difference.
In case you think this is all about Donald Trump, you’re mistaken. There are many books written which will tell you about how this came about, the foundations which were created to maintain control of money by families and the taxes that were avoided.
Trump is the latest person to feel heat for taking advantage of it. Doing so is not illegal, but there are certainly moral and ethical issues that surround the behavior of individuals who would participate in our society, use what we built with tax money and then also want to escape estate taxes.
Please insist that our legislatures change the tax laws if you actually want a fair tax system. You might also find that you’ll get better legislation if we as citizens pay for elections and insist that our legislatures aren’t bought and paid for through campaign contributions, which are intended to influence and buy legislation.
Rob Brostoff
Cascade Locks
Right direction
None of the third party candidates has a resume suited for the presidency. A visit to Factcheck.org would tell you that we are finishing up our eighth year of trying to dig out of the hole the last administration left us in. That is with Congress obstructing anything President Obama wants to do to move forward.
Since Obama took office, the economy has added more than 10 million jobs and job openings, a 15 year high — the unemployment rate is below historic norm.
Buying power is up 4.4 percent. Corporate profits are 152 percent higher. Stock prices are up. Oil imports are down 53 percent. Wind and solar quadrupled. The uninsured rate (healthcare) has fallen by 15.2 million people.
Our standing among other nations has improved significantly, except for Russia. We need to work on the deficit, but that takes cooperation between the parties, which has been lacking.
There is only one candidate with the preparation, intelligence, temperament and experience capable of leading us in this complicated world. There is one candidate I trust to appoint fair and learned justices to the bench. There is one candidate who has a long history of working across the aisle to get things done.
I’ll be voting for her.
Patricia Meeks
White Salmon, Wash.
Fight not over
On Sept. 26, the Wasco County Planning Commission voted two to five to approve the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) application to extend a current 1-mile rail siding for 2 miles to the east and 2 miles to the west of Mosier, Ore. What were they thinking?
It’s obvious the commission was not thinking about protecting the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. This project will destroy it instead. Blasting through basalt rock walls shaped by the Columbia Floods 13,000 years ago; destruction of entire white oak forests; the construction of a 170-foot long, 25-foot high concrete retaining wall; the elimination of several wetlands and the likely disruption of Native American artifacts.
The commission was obviously not thinking about the human toll or the safety risk, either. Despite the objections of numerous elected officials, tribal members, citizens and public interest groups, the commission has multiplied the risk by approving more trains, including more dangerous oil and hazmat trains. The oil train derailment and fire in Mosier this summer didn’t trouble them or weigh much in the decision. Lighting can’t strike twice in the same location … can it?
The commission didn’t even listen to its own Wasco County Planning Director Angie Brewer or staff, who warned repeatedly, “If you remove certain conditions (in the Wasco County planning laws) from the application it will not comply.” Instead the planning commission went ahead and deleted conditions to protect the Gorge that were part of the original application.
The Planning Commission did listen to UPRR, a railroad with a poor safety record, to increase its “fluidity and efficiency,” which will mean more and longer trains. Their decision defies logic and goes against the well-being of Gorge citizens.
Fortunately, the Wasco County Planning Commission vote is likely to be appealed. The first appeal will be to the Wasco County Commission and beyond that to the Columbia River Gorge Commission. Let’s hope that these agencies will see the bigger picture. If you testified or submitted comments on this development application, thank you and please stay involved, this fight is far from over!
Peter Cornelison
Hood River
Bad idea
I counted 15 elementary school-age children getting off the school bus, as I waited in my car on Wasco Street, two blocks down from Morrison Park. It was a great sight to see. All 15 were headed for nearby low-income apartments. How many other kids, and their older brothers and sisters, get off the school bus along Wasco Street? I don’t know. But it is obvious that this is a low-income area with many children and young families trying to make ends meet.
Now, the city is proposing to destroy Morrison Park to build 50 to 80 units of affordable housing. It’s nuts. It will create a ghetto along Wasco. And it will deny people living in this area the opportunity to enjoy a park.
Imagine 100 or more cars and dozens of school-age children trying to cross busy Cascade Avenue — perhaps to shoot a basket or have a picnic in the nearest park a mile away? And how will people in the city view this area? “Oh, yea that’s where the people live”?
Instead, why not see this an opportunity? Why doesn’t the city use Morrison Park to make this a more livable area? Add a few picnic tables, basketball hoops, swings, a water fountain, etc. Have the community get involved. There’s a lot that could be done. And it wouldn’t cost much. A really nice area could be created for the many kids and families who live here.
I urge everyone to go to the public hearing on the rezone Monday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. at City Hall and to the City Council meeting Oct. 24. After hearing the discussion, I think you will agree.
Rezoning Morrison is a bad idea.
Lawrence Jones
Hood River
Supports plan
I am writing to voice my support for the Morrison Park affordable housing option. I applaud the foresight of the city in recognizing that housing costs in the area are prohibitive to many families. If we hope to promote more diversity in our community and provide options for local kids to stay in the area, I believe this is a step in the right direction.
Although I am an ardent outdoors person, I feel strongly that people having a place to live outweighs my recreational desires. Additionally, there is no shortage of other outdoor opportunities locally, whereas the real estate market is not nearly as accessible.
Karen Ikins
White Salmon, Wash.
Showdown
Did you watch the vice presidential debate the other night? What a “showdown.” By most reviews, Mike Pence stole the show by staying cool and collected, while Tim Kaine came off as a hyper irritable fact enforcer. I thought “now” the CC have at least one man on the ticket to be admired and has a great future in the political growth industry.
However, then I started to read the fact checkers report’s and thought, “No, this can’t be true.” The debate should have been called a liars’ contest according to the truth squads. Then I watched the debate on my VCR one frame at a time and sure enough, Pence’s nose was a just a little longer at the end of the debate. I guess his view of the ninth commandment is not quite as strong as the second amendment.
Don Olson
Hood River
Who pays?
Does Measure 97 really tax big corporations? I do not think so; the taxes they pay now are figured in the services they provide even now. If their taxes go up, they will just add the cost to all of us. It looks like to me the state is coming in the back door and adding more taxes to all of us!
Think about this when you vote.
Jerry Petricko
Hood River
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